Heatwave Magazine - Issue # 7 - Winter 2018/19 by Heatwave Magazine

Issue 7 - Winter 2018/19

Heatwavemag.com

Issue 7 - Winter 2018/19

Welcome to Issue 7! Yes, it’s true… we’re back! You thought we were done? In the words of the Ramones, we ain’t history, because that’s not where we want to be. We’re back, because of course, we love it and we always want more. And guess what? This year the scene is booooming with amazing new bands, old bands taking it one step further, and a lot of general talent in our scene. We wish we could feature everyone we meet in between issues, but we are always tight on time and budget and boy, it ain’t that easy. In this issue, we are catching up with our new band crush, The Bad Nerves, and a lot of bands you’d better check out or die! We have been causing a lot of mischief in the past few months - ha! You wish you knew more! As always, it’s all thanks to YOU, the reader. Also, we gotta thank the sponsors, the bands we meet along the way and everyone that keeps supporting us, and of course, thanks to punk rock! -The Editorial Team

Contents New Beats From The Street -Pig Frenzy -Fatamorgana -Tender Chunks In Gravy -Slander Tongue -Network 76 - The Speedways - Music City DIÄT Protomartyr Kuken

13 15 16

Dark Thoughts Sam Andrea Amyl & The Sniffers Uranium Club Insecure Men Bad Nerves The “B” Girls Popcorn Chokers Mallorca Scene Top Ten Records from Spazz Records

17 19 22 24 27 29 31 33 37 38

Editorial Department Founder/Managing Director—Neus Ruiz Editor—Linsey McFadden Co-Editor - Victoria Holford Creative Director—Adrian Alfonso Contributors Olivia Cellamare Nils Rehlinger Charlie Wyatt Frieda Strachan Jack Savage Justin Crumpton Scott Custis Bernat Mundial Illustrators Lluís Fuzzhound Joe Schorgl Ika Lesniak Gonzalo Facio Cover Design “Radio Punk” Adrian Alfonso Layout Design Adrian Alfonso Special Thanks to Gary van Niks from Spazz Records, and also to Sam Andrea for contributing his artwork to our magazine. Printed by Mortons

New Beats from the Street Pig Frenzy Neus Ruiz

Pig Frenzy are one of the bands that really blew my mind away in 2018, so I suggest you check them out. I listened to their record for eight hours non-stop, on a gloomy Monday morning, and felt empowered enough to go out as if it were a Friday night. They only have four songs, so imagine how many loops that took.

We saw them at a festival in Rotterdam recently and their live show was amazing; fuelled by beer they delivered an impressively wild show. The bass player has an amazing powerful voice and stage Pig Frenzy is from the presence. Netherlands and formed by ex- The melodies combined with members of Rotterdam bands the frenetic singer’s form are Forbidden Wizards, Goodnight an explosive combination Moonlight and INWAR, with when you see it live. Timo on vocals, Micha on guitar, Amber on bass and vocals, and Lukas on drums.

Fatamorgana

Neus Ruiz

ailing from Spain, but also consisting of members from other countries, Fatamorgana are a new synthpop, new wave duet based in Barcelona. Singer Patrycja Proniewska, also known for her Spanish post-punk band Belgrado, started this synth-pop duo with Louis

Heatwave

Top songs ‘I don’t need you’ and ‘Second Nature’ are available on 7-inch from SPAZZ Records. Go out and get one and see them live if you can.

Harding earlier this year. In their words, “a Fatamorgana is a phenomenon of optical illusion that appears on the horizon or in the desert. Created by the total reflection of the light across layers of warm air of differing densities, it creates the perception of the image inverted. Fatamorgana consists of the dreamlike sounds of synthesizers and echoed voiced circling around danceable rhythms. You are invited to contemplate and move your body” Their songs reflect tales of the universe, the space, and the deserts. The sound transports you back to those places with echoes and synth waves driven by the excellence of Louis’ keyboards. The live shows are harmonised by impetuous lighting and by the band’s dark

and

soothing

presence.

They currently have a cassette out, but their full length LP, Terra Alta will be out on LVEUM in February. Until then, you can check them out on bandcamp, if you haven’t got a boombox. We’re sure you’ll be captivated...

Tender Chunks in Gravy

TCIG Facebook Page

Neus Ruiz

ender Chunks in Gravy are a band from in and around Haarlem, but they reside in Amsterdam nowadays. They consist of Merlijn Breedland, on guitar and vocals, Laura Pannekoek, on bass, and Bart van Hasselt, on drums. Although the band under their current name is quite recent, they have been around the scene for over four years under different band names, with somewhat different line-ups. The sound is fresh and dark, with similar vibes to Wire and Wipers. Bart and Laura have known each other since high school. One day back in the spring of

mom and some of her friends talked about starting a female punk band, and someone came up with the name ‘Tender Chunks in Gravy.’ None of them played instruments, though, so that particular band never came into existence. The band members are also involved in several other cool bands that you should definitely check out – Merlijn plays in Tony Clifton, who released their first album Love Nordic Women in March 2018. Bart used to play in a band called 13” Deathray Motherfuckers with his brother, Coen, Luuk Schelvis and Roel van Bakkum, who also played in Tender Chunks in a previous line-up. They eventually quit 13” DRMF to start a Dutch punk band called The Babyshakers.

Their self-titled 7-inch is now available on bandcamp. The band plans to release a new 7-inch soon, but so far have no plans of a full LP.

2012 they were long boarding through Spaarndam when they saw Merlijn cycling with a guitar on his back. That’s how they met and started the band; they’ve been making music together ever since. Tender Chunks in Gravy are No surprises here, straight to currently in full swing. They’re the point Dutch-meeting style. already performing and looking The band name was ‘stolen’ for shows around Europe and from an idea Merlijn’s mom had. the US, so be sure to catch Somewhere around the 90s his them if you have the chance!

Slander Tongue Dirk Le Buzz

Let´s have a toast on Slander Tongue, a crazy gang of Berlin Bush Cowboys, with two phenomenal singles stuck in the back pockets of their Urban Rock denims already.

After exhaustive studies of Real Kids demo tracks those Brownsville Station school punks are now aiming at your nicotine intoxicated lungs, to be suffused with the sweet scent of Ted Mulry Gang’s ‘Darktown Strutters Ball’ and the rebel rousing vibes of The Boppers in ‘Rocket City.’

Added up with the tropically hot wet dream groove of Berlin Brats, Thundertrain and Scruff, the result is sure to reduce you to tears of maximum joy! Wet your pants now at slandertongue.bandcamp. com!

Network 76 ©Hugo Snelooper

Neus Ruiz

“Punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it.” - Network (1976)

I’ve been a fan of this band in particular from the very beginning, not for any specific reason, but with such a diverse group of members, who all have such a great taste in music, what could go wrong?  NETWORK76 mumbled by me as wild-protopunk, consisting of members bands such as Sick Mormons, Local Spastics, Motorpapa, and Dollkraut. They are based in Amsterdam and formed by Vorky on vocals, Timothy on bass, Paul on guitar, and Bo on drums.  You may have seen them around Amsterdam causing mayhem at shows or at Pacific Parc. They had a show before they even had a name. They have their first record on the way, or so we think if they ever get it done. We managed to catch up with them somehow… Heatwave: What’s the Paul: Cool origin of the band’s name?   Vorky: I think we should just write  All: We’ll let our conversation our whole conversation down. about answering this Paul: Yeah, good one. answer, speak for itself:  Timothy: I don’t wanna write Timothy: Nah. down that the name of our Heatwave: What genre band came from a movie. do you consider your  Paul: Well, if we describe the music to be? Who are your major influences? deeper meaning of the film correctly, I think people will Vorky: What was that word think its kinda cool. There are again we came up with? enough bands out there that Paul: Dystopunk.  take inspiration from books and films. You’ve got to get your Bo: Shouldn’t we just say punk inspiration from ‘somewhere,’ instead of coming up with a new but that’s my opinion, genre because “we are so deep.” what do you guys think? Paul: Yeah fuck that, just punk.

of us all met each other in Pacific Wipers, and lots of obscure Parc – that’s the name of the shoegaze bands. Modern bar where we all used to work. and old.  We tried it and it Heatwave: Do you play or have worked and that’s why we you played in other bands? decided to stick together. All: Timothy plays in Dolkraut, Bo plays in White Slice and used to play in Local Spactics, Paul in Motor Papa, and Vorky in Sick Mormons, Wanderlust and now has a little side project, with the guitarist from NEED, named Gots.

Heatwave: Do you have a record label?

Vorky: No. No label yet... it might help if we finish some recordings first. But we are working on that and we actually just finished the recordings.  But we weren’t fully satisfied, so we decided to do it Heatwave: When d i d all over, which kind of sucks, but you form your band? it’s better to take your time than to looking back with regrets. Bo: #@$@%$@%#@#%@# (Sorry we censored this Heatwave: What can you tell answer on Bo’s request) me about your instruments?  Bo: I don’t think we got our All: Punk. No don’t write that. Write, “We Paul: Guitar for me, inspiration from a movie. Didn’t prof essi onal ‘que Heatwa ve: How long were all drunk in a bar and an d Martijn come up with the name? decided to form a punk band.” giver’ for Vorky. Hahaha have you all known each I think it’s stupid to pretend other? How did you meet? Vorky: That’s so much better, Bo. Bo: I play whatever sounds that we liked the movie so   much; I haven’t even seen it. Vorky: Bo and I know each other Paul: Anyway, my personal good to me. I don’t even know  Timothy: Same here. +1 for Bo. for a long time now and the rest influences are Sonic Youth, the what brand my gear is, haha. Heatwave

New Beats from the Street

Timothy: Anything that isn’t shaped like a Fender Stratocaster. I hate the shape of that guitar. I settled on a Rickenbacker eventually.

Vorky: Some of us have the habit of going missing on our practice day. Paul: Yeah and our studio is located in the basement of a student flat, for which we don’t have the key. So we always have to sneak in or use questionable techniques to get into the flat. I have all the other keys, even for the elevator, just not the one to get in the flat.

Heatwave: Where have you performed? What are your favourite and least favourite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows? Vorky: Mostly in Amsterdam, but after December we are not going to do shows in Amsterdam for a while. It’s only been like five months since we had our first gig, so we haven’t had that many shows. But for me Pacific parc and Antwerpen Music City are my favourites.

Paul: Skatepark Noord was my favourite gig. There were a lot of people and the vibe was really good. 200 skaters make a good party. Heatwave: Do you ever play any covers? Vorky: We normally cover ‘The Dicks Hate the Police’ from you guessed it The Dicks. We all love Dicks. Our own songs don’t sound anything like The Dicks, but the intensity, lyrics, and music made us choose one of their songs. Heatwave: Do you have a set playlist?

Vorky: I haven’t really spotted any pattern in our behaviour in writing playlists. It’s pretty spontaneous I think. We do have an order of playing things, but we mix that up from time to time too. Heatwave: Who your songs? What main themes or for most of your

writes are the topics songs?

Vorky: We all do it together, aside from the song lines and lyrics, that’s mostly me. We

Vorky: We don’t really have an end goal, I think. For me, it’s all about playing at cool venues, visiting new places and meeting awesome people. Paul: Yup, just spreading the music as far as there are people that are willing to tolerate us for half an hour. Playing live is what it’s all about for me.

©Joe Schorgl

Timothy: My favourite gig was definitely the one at Garage Noord. It’s the rawest if you’re same level with the crowd, way more interaction energy-wise than I usually have on stage. Less stages, more raw power.

Heatwave: What’s your ultimate direction as a band? Future plans?

kind of like it dark, and when it comes to writing lyrics I like to create a world or a picture with words.  Every song is a new world with it’s own paradigms. Deep shit. No... I don’t know what I’m doing. Heatwave: Could you briefly describe the music-making process?

Bo: I just want to get rich.

few notes in a repeating droney pattern, giving Paul enough space to do whatever he wants.” Heatwave: How has your music evolved since you first began playing together? Timothy: I think the first composition we wrote was ‘Human Show,’ I guess it’s best to file that one under garagepunk/rock/whatever.  After that we unintentionally took a turn towards writing stuff that’s more repetitive and drone-ish, those riffs then switch to hooks or longer instrumental parts.  Overall our latest work has a very strong dystopian/misanthropic outlook, if I’d have to define it

Vorky: Paul stares out of a window for 15-min and comes up with a riff. Timothy only knows one note, so he just plays along, and Bo comes up with his drums and I finish the lyrics and vocals a month later.  But I’ve learned it’s better to finish the lyrics in one go, because it took me five months to finish the lyrics from one of our first Heatwave: What has been your songs. That’s about it right… biggest challenge as a band? Timothy: Dude, I don’t Timothy: To get the whole just play one n o t e . band in the rehearsal room on time, and actually getting Timothy: Just say something into the rehearsal room like, “Timothy hates fancy bass keeps on challenging us. It’s playing, so he just sticks to a fucking horrible sometimes Vorky: Haha!

Vorky: We are planning a little tour in March to the UK. One show in London and surrounding cities, and we are working on doing a couple of shows throughout the Netherlands together with Pizza Knife, Pig Frenzy, and Karel. Heatwave: What is the scene like in Amsterdam? Is there any support for your music? Are you a member of any music organisations? Timothy: It’s getting better, after a hard couple of years! Four or five years back there was a semi-good show every two weeks or so, but the past two years were shit. Shit to the point that a lot bands would skip Amsterdam on their tours.  These days there’s a bunch of gnarly bands around and people seem to be up for some raw noise. Vorky: Timothy and I are both DJs and we also book bands. Together with a girlfriend of mine we started doing monthly radio shows a while back 7

©Hugo Snelooper called We Hate Radio and are now also booking and setting up shows under that name.  I try to boost some extra life in the scene and hopefully bring everybody closer together. It’s been pretty sad here and all the cool touring bands just skipped Amsterdam, because no one was setting up shows. But slowly things are changing and it’s nice to be a part of it. Heatwave: Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for emotional support? Bo: Martijn. Timothy:

therapist.

Heatwave: Name a few bands from your music scene you would recommend. Bo: Need, Pizza Knife, Night Fever and Savage Beat. Timothy: Do they have to be local? Definitely Need. Pizza Knife has a fuckin’ wild live show. Internationally I’d go with The Scaners, paranoid UFO synth punk from Lyon, and Uranium Club, weirdo ADHD with insane sketchy hooks. Vorky: Don’t forget Pig Frenzy, Periot and Terror Defence, Heatwave

those guys are fucking awesome live, and Periot is also really fun to see live. Heatwave: Anything else you would like to add? All: Shout out to our Pacific Parc family and to everybody helping us out.

©Nicola Christopher

The Speedways Linsey McFadden

or a ‘band’ that’s received a fair amount of buzz over it’s debut album, Just Another Regular Summer, most will probably be surprised to know that one of 2018’s most exciting new power pop bands, The Speedways, was never intended to be a performing band. While a live London-based lineup for the band now exists, The Speedways are entirely a solo project conceived by the former guitarist for The Breakdowns, Matthew Julian, back in his home in Nottingham.

drummer himself, Matthew, still maintained influence over the percussion sounds. From the beginning he knew exactly how he wanted every single instrument to sound on the album and he made Just Another Regular Summer sure they turned out that way. is a series of some of the Initially, these songs were catchiest, most infectious intended to be the next power pop songs you can Breakdowns album, but find in this generation. the band split in 2017, leaving The tracks were written about Matthew with all of these specific places and times in amazing songs, and no Matthew’s life, and the way he band to record them with. weaves his reality and bares his feelings and truths makes every track all the more poignant. Matthew wrote all of the songs and recorded all of the instruments on the album, save the drums. Dec Burns played all of the drums on the album, however, despite not being a

result is power pop perfection. The album was clearly written about love and heartbreak, and while they were all written with particular ideas in mind, there’s still something very cathartic about them for the listener.

Some Weird Sin’s Power Pop Weekender in July 2018.

The live band was filled out with Matthew on guitar and vocals, Heatwave’s own Adrian Alfonso on bass, Mauro Venegas, of Miscalculations, on guitar, The lyrics in the songs are a and Kris Hood, of half the true testament to the sort of bands in London, on drums. person Matthew is and they The boys did a grand total demonstrate a natural inclination of two rehearsals before to a deeply romantic form of their debut gig, and they songwriting. The expressiveness completely blew the lid off the and feeling in the songs place. You wouldn’t believe maintains a completely natural the amount of times I heard So, he set out to do it flow that carries you through people saying,” I can’t believe himself. Ultimately, I think the album from start to finish. they only had two practices!”, Matthew’s decision to record Initially, Matthew decided to after their performance. the songs himself was a form a live version of the band Despite the fact that The blessing in disguise. Because for the sake of getting the Speedways played a generally The Speedways are a solo word out about the album, ‘undesirable’ slot that project Matthew was able to a sort of ‘one and done’ weekend, they managed to tailor the sound to suit the performance. The lineup was draw an impressive crowd. songs exactly the way he consolidated specifically for The amount of people they envisioned them. The end 9

managed to draw in at 5pm on a rainy Sunday rivalled the crowds some of the bands in prime spots had. Not only did the band manage to draw a sizeable Sundayafternoon crowd, they made the crowd dance, they made them really, truly enjoy it. Adrian has even repeatedly joked that he sometimes wishes he weren’t in the band, because he loves Matthew’s songs so much that he wishes he could see them played live. These songs are just that good. If you know anything about London, you know how standoffish people here can be, especially when presented with something new, but there was absolutely none of that at The Speedways first gig, which is a testament to the album Matthew created and the draw the live band was able to produce. At the end of the set Claudia from Baby Shakes declared The Speedways to be her new favourite band – high praise. When it came time for their second show, the album release party at Nambucca, they kept up their trend of pulling in crowds during slightly more undesirable time slots. It was a Thursday night and a fair amount of the London scene was off in Istanbul for We’re Loud, but The Speedways didn’t fail to fill the room. To top it off, the band even had a minor crisis with receiving the records! The pressing plant wasn’t able to get everything back to the label on time, so the pink vinyl and sleeves weren’t actually going to be with Matthew in time for the album release show. The label sent out some splatter vinyl and Adrian and Matthew’s friend, Josh Clark, went into crunch mode and reformatted the album art to be printed off on card, so they could make their own sleeves. Heatwave

The night of the show, Matthew and Adrian were sat in Nambucca folding all the cover art and inserting them into the plastic sleeves right before soundcheck! But it actually turned out great in the end and the splatter vinyl looked really nice with the cover art. Crisis averted! While the ‘one and done’ idea for the band clearly didn’t stick, I don’t think there will ever be a another Just Another Regular Summer, purely because those songs come from a specific time in Matthew’s life. However, I am confident that Matthew will continue to make power pop gems. This band has all the qualities it takes to become modern power pop classics. Do you like The Exploding Hearts? You’ll like The Speedways. The Records? You’ll like The Speedways. You’ll like The Speedways. The Jags? You’ll like The Speedways – who coincidentally do a really fun cover of ‘Back of My Hand.’ Do you just like good music? Try The Speedways. Seriously, don’t sleep on this band. But while you’re waiting to see what Matthew does next, go out and grab a copy of Just Another Regular Summer from Gods Candy Records. The band already has a few gigs booked in London for 2019, and with more to follow the live band will be one to watch out for next year. Catch them at Garageland on January 11 with Moron’s Morons and The Spitters.

©Aila Harryson Lorigan

y Cit sic Mu Adrian Alfonso and Linsey McFadden

usic City is a new solo project from the mind of Number Ones drummer, Conor Lumsden. Music City plays old school power pop a la Big Star. Aided by their completely analog recordings, they sound like they could’ve fallen right out of 70s. While the band is obviously influenced by Big Star, the name ‘Music City’ actually wasn’t inspired by the album title Radio City – although, it is Conor’s all time favourite album. The band name actually stems from a joke his girlfriend made while he was trying to think of a title for his project. “Me and my girlfriend were joking about ripping off the punk band Extravision and naming the band after another defunct video shop,” Conor said. “I said, ‘Advance Vision,’ and she said, ‘Music City,’ and it seemed like it perfectly represented everything I wanted to do with the band.” The band is based in Dublin, but when Conor began penning the songs for Music City’s debut 7-inch he was renting a room in New York and being egged on by the visage of the now late Tom Petty.

leaning against the wall on the desk,” he said. “Tom’s grin really helped me with a lot of things. It was kinda like he was saying, ‘yeah it’s hard, but keep going!’ Just on how much Tom Petty means to me, it really broke my heart when he died.” Pretty Feelings came out in late September on Static Shock Records. The album was recorded at Bow Lane Studios, in Dublin, with Daniel Fox of Girl Band. Conor played most of the instruments on the record, with Daniel on tambourine and acoustic guitar, Conor O’Brien, of Villagers, on piano, and Leigh Arthur, of Sissy and Extravision, and Ailbhe Níc Oireachtaigh, of The Cosmos, on backing vocals.

“Playing all the instruments can be kind of tricky, but it’s fun to have it come together layer by layer,” he said. “I think most of the best rock n’ roll “I had a mattress on the floor, records are live in studio, but a dirty net curtain, a guitar there’s a sort of tradition with and a desk, the only other this type of music to do it that item was the first Tom Petty way; with Todd Rundgren, and the Heartbreakers album Paul McCartney, The Toms,

Brendan Benson etc., etc.” The last record Conor worked on before Pretty Feelings was Another Side of The Number Ones, which was done completely differently. Another Side of The Number Ones was recorded live straight onto cassette with a full band, giving it a very raw and unpolished sound. Pretty Feelings, on the other hand, was recorded in a proper studio, where they blended together hi and lo-fi elements to achieve the desired sound – ie: dead drums and fancy microphones for vocals. “I had very specific sounds in mind, like the fuzz guitar sound was achieved by plugging the guitar straight into the desk with the level too high to get that blown out clipping sound,” Conor said. “By itself we were like ‘that sounds so terrible!’ But then in the mix it sounded so good!” It was then mixed and mastered to tape by Mikey Young, of Total Control and UV Race, who has worked on most

of Conor’s favourite modern records. Pretty Feelings was more hi-fi than Another Side of The Number Ones, but ideally Conor would like to get even more analogue with his future Music City releases. “I think the techniques of recording rock music peaked in the late 70s,” he said. “In the 80s, 90s, 00s, rock music started sounding worse and worse.” Conor has been playing guitar since he was 12, and picked up bass not too long after. Drums came much later, when he joined The Number Ones. “I got a guitar when I was 12, then shortly after a bartender in Lanzarote gave me a Fender Jazz Bass, I didn’t even know what a bass was – ‘Where are the rest of the strings? Why is it so big?’,” he said. “Bass became my main instrument through my punk teenage years, then I went back to guitar, then The Number Ones asked me to join the band and I was like, ‘What will I play?’ and the lads were like, ‘Well give drums a go!’ so I did and that’s how I learned to play drums.” 11

Conor loves being in and working with The Number Ones, but Music City offers him the flexibility to write and record songs that don’t fit in with The Number Ones’ style. The Number Ones are a complete team effort, with every member’s contributions being crucial to their overall sound, but with Music City Conor’s the only one that has to be into the ideas he’s producing. “I can do a song that’s more poppy or more country or more keyboard based and not have to worry about it ruining the aesthetic, which will make more sense as the band releases more music,” he said. The strength of Conor’s song writing is the focal point of Music City. His main goal is to centre songs over the general sound, while creating

Heatwave

of diverse tracks, spanning across the range of Conor’s musical influences, so make sure to keep up with this band.

records that people can really connect with. He doesn’t want to make music that people buy and never listen to. “A lot of bands these days have a sound but no songs,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a band and said, ‘oh wow, this is going to be great,’ only to find there’s nothing there beyond nice chords and good sounding guitars. All I’m interested in is getting better at writing songs.” Conor hopes to be on tour with Music City as much as possible. Their show in London at the start of November went over really well and he hopes to come back soon. He’s also hoping to do a tour of mainland Europe in Spring 2019. At the moment, Conor is working on the next 7-inch. When it comes to Music City, creating the records is a meticulous process, because he wants it to be as good as possible, so it’ll probably be

a little while before we see a full-length LP, but at least we know Conor will be sprinkling in some 7-inches while we wait. “The singles anchor it, but it’s the in between bits that make an album,” he said. “There’s types of songs that only work in the context of an album, or that I wouldn’t put on a 7-inch.” The future for Music City is pretty open, and Conor’s excited to play with many musicians. I think we’re in for quite a few surprises from this band in the future. They’ll no doubt produce an amazing repertoire

DIÄT Olivia Cellamare

erlin is home to many brilliant bands and musicians, and it’s about time more attention was put on one of the finest bands based there – DIÄT.

DIÄT have a proper dark and eerie sound, which you can imagine ringing in your ears as you stalk the streets at night with the rain hitting your face. The music is creepy and it’s what makes them standout from a lot of bands attempting this sound. Their debut record, Positive Energy, came out a couple years ago and it’s still one of those records that you play and feel like it’s your first time listening to it. It’s got that magic to it that makes you think, “this is what music is about.” It goes beyond being something that fits any genre. It’s a battle cry. The songs on Positive Energy feel like someone sending electric shocks right through you. It is apparent in songs like the second track on the record, ‘Toonie.’ It really smacks you right between the eyes. What I adore about DIÄT is that they have this utterly fearless sound – they really capture this eerie sound so well. If I was going to dream up a perfect sound, then I’m fairly sure that these guys have nailed it. I’ve read comparisons to the likes of Killing Joke and Crisis, but I don’t get that. I’m getting early Merchandise mixed with hints of The Birthday Party and Joy Division, the bass especially, but if we are talking vocals, think Bauhaus with rage. You can see why I regard them as having the ‘perfect’ sound. Bands that aren’t afraid to completely unleash every part of themselves on record are the ones we’ve got to treasure. For me, there are so many reasons as to why DIÄT capture’s mystery and chilling emotions but do it in a way that just seems so effortless. This band is clearly exceptional and the songs

move you in ways you wouldn’t expect a punk band – if you want to call them that, to move you. I can see why they are called punk, but for the most part, like I mentioned before, they go way above a genre of music. They create sounds that would be perfect in a Thriller, a really sinister one that leaves you scared to go to the bathroom without crawling on your knees in the hopes that no one sees or hears you. They truly can spook you out with their sound. I love that so much. I’ve never seen DIÄT live, but going by what I hear on record, I’m confident with assuming that their shows are brutal and intense. DIÄT have this moodiness in makes you want to pack up your Berlin to immerse yourself in this and to live through the music as

their sound that shit and move to sound completely, intensely possible.

We all need a band to wake us up and DIÄT are quite frankly that band. They’ve got what it takes to save the world with their sound, and sure I’m being biased, but these guys are just incredible. They give you that feeling of “I cannot live without this band. I need to soak up everything they’ve done, and will do.” That rush they give you and the urgency in their songs are so important. It’s such a great feeling to be hit with. There’s this glorious wintery coldness in their sound, which makes it all the more romantic and pleasurable to listen to. It isn’t music for those who want soppy declarations and an easy ride. DIÄT take you somewhere with their music, and lyrics that will spook you, but they will also breathe some much needed life into you. 13

With their Positive Energy record, they have given a collection of songs that each feel like they’re telling their own story, although it is a record. Songs like ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Nausea’ feel like the band could have made them at any point in their career and hold enough weight to tell their own story. They could just constantly release singles and it’d feel like a masterpiece every single time. Bands that do this don’t come around often. So yeah, pretty safe to call DIÄT a bunch of geniuses who are utterly fearless. I know it is utterly clichéd to say so, but DIÄT are hugely underrated. I know they have a cult like sound and probably a similar following, but there is something about them that makes you wish the whole world loved them as much as you do.

I love that they make you feel like you are walking across desolate industrial streets with only the music for company. An air of greyness is there, but it isn’t morbid. It is romantic, it is passionate and it is poetic. There is so much to love about DIÄT and the way they can transport you to a different world without even trying hard to do so. Their entire sound is just effortlessly brilliant, and relaxing.

There is something really strong within this band that makes you truly believe in them and their music. They give you a taste of how you want everything you listen to sound like and anything you listen to afterwards will be compared to them.

I’m one of the odd ones who find this kind of music relaxing and comforting. I love how the build-up in each song intensifies more and more in each song you hear. I love how they keep you in suspense with what you’re going to hear next. DIÄT are evidently a band that once you listen to, there is no going back. But why would you want to go back? These songs were made to be heard by all, and as often as possible. They are for any and everyone. If you’re looking for a band to scare you shitless or just kick some life into you, listen to DIÄT and embrace the rush that they give you with every listen. They will mess with your head, and they will take over your heart. This is four years of love pouring out here, dear reader. Sheer love, respect and admiration. DIÄT are utterly ruthless with their sound, and the way they project this is truly something to be massively in awe of. They make you want to pick up a guitar and create noise that just brutalises anyone who listens to them. I have no idea what the band are up to at the moment, but I sincerely hope we get something soon. We need them, more than ever before.

Heatwave

Protomartyr Nils Rehlinger

about trash receptacles,” Joe said. “Seriously, they have five or six songs about a specific dumpster. I just remembered an old Ricardo Montalban car commercial and recently had a nightmare about vehicular manslaughter that seemed to fit the mood of the song.” One might ask how the title and the cover are connected to these strange stories. Actually, they are just the bands way of having fun.

ailing from Detroit and infiltrating the post-punk music scene since 2008, Protomartyr are one foot away from embarking on their North America tour, accompanied by fellow rockers Rattle and Hurry Up. After the successful release of their latest EP, Consolation, featuring Kelly Deal from The Breeders and the succeeding collaborative singles under Irony Prompts a Party Rat with Spray Paint, it is safe to say that anticipation for a new album is in the air. However, we must be patient for a little while longer. “I wouldn’t look forward to it, but our plan now is to hopefully record the next album early next year,” said Joe Casey, singer of Protomartyr. “It all depends if we can come up with enough music we are happy with, which is always an odd, against timetables type process.” Their latest releases point towards the enjoyment of crafting music with other artists, an activity that can surpass one’s own expectations of their own capabilities. “Collaboration is like finding a new, useful tool in the bottom of the box after only thinking you had a rubber mallet and some duct tape,” he said. “It pulls us out of the hermetic life we kind of live as a band. That’s a good thing.” Future collaborations are not excluded. Nonetheless, the

“The title and the phrases on the back cover are all anagrams,” he said. “The cover image seemed to capture the collaborative process of the songs. Poor Sal Mineo getting menaced.”

Protomartyr’s music might be put in the same box as other musicians who love band recons that it is time to get old demo that never saw the to get wild and sweaty on back to doing their own things. light of day. It was originally stage. Regardless, the band prefers to perform in a calm “I think it would be interesting called ‘Tecumseh’s Bones,’ manner. Fans might be to do a full album with a lot of which has become a cursed curious about their mindset collaborations at some point, name for me. Every time I try to when they step on stage. but I think the next one will name a song that, it invariably be just the four of us again,” gets shit-canned. That’s “Dread, mostly. That’s why I just Joe said. “The benefit of non- happened three times now. try and focus on trying to get the collaboration is that you can Spray Paint changed theirs words out and bottle it in,” Joe faithfully replay the songs a little after I turned in the said. “The shirtless, swaggering without the audience feeling vocal. Somewhere in the calisthenics routine is fine for something, whether another ether is Cory of Spray Paint’s other bands. I’m proponent voice or distinctive instrument, is dub reggae remix. A true club of the small gesture and the missing. But still, I would love an banger, as the old people say.” unplanned physical response album of duets… half the singing Joe’s vocals on ‘Corinthian to the music. I’m a still person for a lazy man like myself.” Leather’ are dipped in dense in my day-to-day, so I see no reason to bounce around with Collective efforts do not only reverb. An aesthetic that my gut out on stage. I’m too show artistic compatibility, Joe himself is critical of. old and boring for that shit.” but also an a c t u a l “I usually think heavy reverb appreciation for each other. is just a crutch used by After all, the band simply wants to have a good time when they “We hit it off with those guys unimaginative vocalists,” are rolling out on tour. The same [Spray Paint],” he said. “It’s a he said. “I also avoid it to can be said about the next one. rare thing to admire a band AND avoid insipid comparisons to get along with them as people.” other bands. It seems like a “Personally, I just want to enjoy ‘influence’ tag for some people. the experience,” he said. “It Irony Prompts a Party Rat has Unfortunately, idiots compare can be hard to like touring a special concept at its core. us to weird bands whether I when you’re in the middle of it. Each band performed one use reverb or not. Now I guess We are touring with some true song and switched frontmen, I don’t care. Reverb me up man! friends this time, so I’m sure with ‘Corinthian Leather’ This song seemed to call for it.” it will be a laugh and a half. having Spray Paint in the back Maybe I’ll grow a beard and and Joe on the mic, and vice While it is Spray Paint’s signature whip my shirt off and slap my versa on ‘Bags and Cans.’ move to write about ludicrous guy like bongos. Who knows?” “Both instrumentals were done topics, Protomartyr’s lyrics are by the time the other band got no less bizarre on their part. them,” he said. “Ours was an “Spray Paint are always singing

Heatwave

Kuken Olivia Cellamare

hat you need to know about punk gods, Küken, is that they don’t mess around. Their short and to-the-point angsty songs will make you want to pogo or some shit. They’ll make you want to throw TVs out windows, smash beer bottles on the ground and punch yourself in your own damn face, because they are just THAT good. Sure, this could be my own biased opinion, because I’ve declared myself as their biggest fan based in the UK, but I’m not alone in realising how spectacular this band is… Right? Well, if I’m not, then I’m going to try converting you… Somehow. If you’re looking for a band that constantly makes you feel as if you’re in a dingy, sweaty basement bar surrounded by people who may not understand what personal space is – but in this instance you don’t mind, or if you are looking for a band that annihilates everything you’ve heard before with their machine gun guitars, fuzzy vocals and drums that send your head spinning, then Küken are for you.   They aren’t a band that you listen to casually in the background while cooking. Hell no. They’re a band you play as loud as you can in the hopes your neighbours shut up, or because you want everyone around you to get into this brilliant band. They aren’t a band to zone out to or anything like that. They’ve got the kind of raw and bold sound that made us all fall in love with music in the first place.

Over the past three years, my love for Küken has grown, but I couldn’t possibly tell you the names of the members or anything like that. What I can tell you is that labels like Drunken Sailor Records and Bachelor Records know exactly what the band are about and of course they give us what we want. What do we want? We want loud, obnoxious, snotty music that makes us feel like Stiv Bators is still with us. We want to feel like we are listening to bands like The Damned for the first time. I may be mentioning other bands, but what you need to know is that Küken are honestly unlike any other band. Their songs contain profanities; so maybe don’t play them in front of prudish folk who are scared of colourful language. Or maybe you should, just to be a little shit and get a reaction. Küken have released two records so far. Both of them just exude sheer rowdiness and brutal sounds. Like I mentioned, they just make you want to throw things around. Do you remember the first time you heard The Stooges and it blew your mind? That’s how Küken will make you feel. It doesn’t matter which record you start with, because both of them are just out of this world. They make you feel like you’re in the midst of one of their shows when you listen to

them. You feel like you are right there in the belly of the world, which they have created with this magnificent sound. If you, like me, like your music to be noisy then these guys are for you. A little while ago they played their first shows in the UK. Of course, life got in the way and I couldn’t go. They played a really small venue in Stoke-on-Trent called Pilgrims Pit – As someone who went to university there, I was super proud that a band like this made it to this small part of the world. Stoke gets a lot of slack from those who know nothing about the place, but venues like Pilgrims Pit show you that this place is not to be messed with. If a band like Küken played there when I was at uni, it would have totally blew my mind and I’d probably have binned off doing my degree to start a band. However, I have zero music ability so I had to stick it out. Küken make you feel like you have this burning desire to just make a load of noise and feed it out into the world. They make you feel like you’re part of this secret underworld that others may be too scared to go. The aftermath of listening to them, if played at the right level, will leave your ears ringing beautifully. Sounds you once treasured will seem pointless after listening to Küken, because they will be all you want to hear. Am I going too far? More than

likely, but there’s so much truth in my words, so…. Songs like ‘I’m Not A Fuck Up,’ ‘Screwed’ and ‘The Problem Is You’ from last year’s record are real brutal punk songs. They’re the kind of songs that if released back in the 70s, would make The Sex Pistols quiver with nerves. They have this wonderful way of keeping you guessing about where they are from and when – this is something I truly adore about them. A band that can keep you guessing like this should always be treasured. I love how their first record and their second feel like, you’ve got to play them in order. The songs can be played in any order, but with the actual records you need to start with the debut then work your way up. You can see how they’ve progressed and how they’ve increased the angst in their songs. I love the aggression and I love the complete passion in the music. Going back to their first record, songs like ‘Nosebleed’ and ‘Stranded’ should be played extra loud. I love how their songs don’t even hit the 3-minute mark. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to about two and a half minutes. They take that blueprint that the Ramones laid out with their short to the point songs, and keep your attention and focus always on them. When you listen to Küken, it’s easy to have a wealth of feelings and thoughts brew inside of you. You may have had nothing going on prior listening to them, but as soon as the music kicks in you feel something intensely forming within you. It’s such a powerful and beautiful thing to possess, and for me, that’s what punk is all about. Maybe some are still adamant that punk is dead, but let’s be honest, something like punk doesn’t die or even fade away. Küken are proof that it just gets louder and louder.

D A R K THOUGHTS

lla

Linsey McFadden

ark Thoughts are a fast-paced Ramones-esque punk trio from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rounding out the band is Jim Shomo on guitar and vocals, Amy Opsasnick on bass and Daniel Cox on drums. Following a successful European tour in 2017, and a warm British reception, the band came back over the Atlantic for a full UK tour this past October. While the band has only released two LPs so far, Dark Thoughts and At Work, they have managed to build a sizable international following through expansive touring and word of mouth. Initially, the band was slated to appear at Static Shock Weekend 2018 in London, but Tom ended up cancelling for the year, so as to have a better lineup next year. The band still received a pretty positive welcome in London, though, and got a chance to enjoy the city. In June they released their sophomore album, At Work, on Stupid Bag Records (US and Canada) and Drunken Sailor Records (UK and Europe). At Work seems to have maintained the fast-paced poppy style of their debut slf-titled LP, while embracing more melodic elements, and occasionally slowing down the pace a bit. It very much seems like a second album, in that it’s clear you’re still the same band, but they’ve had time to grow. 2018’s been a pretty busy year for the trio, but they’ve not run out of steam yet. We managed to catch up with Jim, somewhere between London and a gig in New Jersey with The Night Birds.

Heatwave: When did you decide to form Dark Thoughts? Jim: Dark Thoughts formed a little over five years ago. Amy and I were good friends and had been talking for a while about wanting to do a Ramones type of band. I met Daniel through Amy when he moved to Philadelphia from Florida and we all hit it off.  I had written maybe four or five rough songs, which ended up being our demo a few months later and the rest is history, haha. Heatwave: Who biggest musical

are your influences?

Heatwave: What bands have you all been in previously? Are any of you working on any other projects in addition to Dark Thoughts? Jim: Amy and Daniel were formerly in a band called Bad Energy together around the time that we started the band. Also Amy sang for Fuck SS, which Daniel occasionally filled in for on drums. I first met Amy when she was playing in her old band, Bonefolder. Daniel played in a slew of bands from Florida and here, including a Larf, No Qualms, Aseptic, and a bunch of others I’m probably forgetting. I used to play in hardcore band called Bad Side, as well as sing in a short-lived band called Attitude Era, and a solo project with a tape player called The Holidays. Currently Daniel plays bass in a new post punk band called The Ire. He was drumming in Pollen, but they recently split. Amy and I are in a new band called The Stutter, and I also play guitar in another hardcore band called Machine Gun. Heatwave: How would you say the band has evolved from the self-titled 2016 LP to your most recent release, At Work? Jim: Mainly we’ve evolved just by playing together all the time. We made ourselves pretty busy between the selftitled and the second record with tours and one off shows in random places. So we’re all pretty comfortable playing together at this point. It only took us a few weeks to get the songs down for At Work before we recorded it. We Heatwave

©Andi Wolf

Jim: The biggest influence, as we’ve said a lot of time, is The Ramones. We all love all types of different things – post punk, hardcore, pop-punk, etc., but the main thing is The Ramones. just kind of forced ourselves to crank it out and get it done and I think it was worth it. Heatwave: Did your song-writing/general creative process differ between the two albums, or was it much the same? Jim: The song-writing aspect of the band was generally the same as the first. I had some ideas and would take them to Amy and Daniel who then sort of refine them until we’re all on the same page. Apart from just working faster it was pretty much the same thing, just streamlined. We recorded in the same space with same people and just hoped it would sound okay, haha. Heatwave: You’ve toured Europe before, but this time you did a full UK tour – How was your reception in Europe on the last tour and how was your reception in the UK this time around? Jim: Europe was really fun, but definitely a hard tour. We played maybe 23 shows in 25 days or something like that, so it was a lot of driving on little sleep, but we made a lot of really great friends and we hope to come back to the mainland again sometime soon. The UK part of that first tour was kind of our favourite part and we all wished we had more time there, so this time around it was especially fun for all of us.  The shows in the UK were great! Heatwave: What were some of your best memories from this last tour?

Jim: Daniel tackling our friend Crawford outside the pub in Glasgow was pretty funny. Current Affairs and Asbestos Beach in Glasgow were probably some of my favourite bands that I saw. Playing Stoke-on-Trent has always been really fun for us, love hanging with Julian and Tracy. Sheffield show was killer; all the bands were really fun.   Hanging in Newcastle was great. All the people in Manchester were very sweet. Seeing Vile Spirit again in Brighton. Bristol show was awesome. Meeting up with The Guests.  London gig was great and glad we got to hang out there with all the people we met for a few days. Overall a really good time, we love playing the UK. Heatwave: How’d you enjoy London this time around compared to your last trip here? Jim: Last time we were in London was only for like a night and day, and we left at like 6am the next morning so I really didn’t get to see anything. This time was great because gave ourselves some time to hang out and check it out a little bit. London’s massive. I think we only really saw near North London where we were staying. I’d really like to come back and explore it some more. It’s a fun city. Heatwave: It’s a shame Static Shock Weekend didn’t end up happening this time around, but would you consider coming back over when Tom puts one together in the future?

Sam Andrea Neus Ruiz

msterdam is a city of artists, painters, dreamers and sex. The magic seems to happen in every corner and under every pebble of this city, but also in the darkest alleys and bridges of this town. As Mr John Green once said, “Amsterdam [bla bla bla…] is a city of freedom and in most freedom people find sin,” or something like that. Our artist for this issue comes from this freedom, and also this sin. He was born and raised in the arms of punk rock and he was talented enough to walk in it with grace. Jim: Yeah of course! Talking about maybe coming back in 2020? Seems so far away, haha. Heatwave: What are your favourite songs to play live as a band? Jim: I dunno, I guess maybe the new songs are exciting to play live now because they are more fresh in the mind. We kind of play everything in blocks of songs, so sometimes they run together. I like playing all of them, haha. Heatwave: You lot seem to be constantly on the move – I saw on your bandcamp that you have some shows coming up, but when/where do you think your next tour will be? Jim: We’re actually playing a show later tonight as I write this, haha. With Night Birds in Asbury Park, then we have one more show with them again in Philadelphia at the end of the month [November]. In December we are doing two weeks down to Texas and back supporting our friends in the band Swearin’, and then in January we are doing another two week tour – Florida and back up the US East Coast, with The Smarthearts, who have a new record out, and it’s gonna be sick!  Beyond we have some loose plans to go to Canada in March, but after that who knows? Heatwave: I know it’s not been that long since At Work came out, but what sort of progression do you think your ideal third album will have? Jim: We have a group of songs written, hoping that after some of these tours we can sit down and knock out another record, but I think it will be a really fun one to write, probably a little faster and tighter, I hope, haha.

Sam Andrea is known in the scene for playing in bands such as NEED, a band whose members have also played in bands such as Brat Pack, Aux Raus, Local Spastics, Union Town, etc. People say they are a cross between Danzig and the Wipers. Sam is also member of Mispricks, some sort of Misfits cover band, and something really curious called Sexy Violence. But in in Sam´s words that project is “just fuckin’ around.” I’ll tell you something about Sexy Violence – it’s a really nice concept that involves a band, a boxing ring and a dark room. I haven’t been there, but I have been exposed to the concept live – I might have even played a little boxing myself, and seen videos on YouTube. That should give you enough to think about. Just look for it or Sexy Violence might come and find you. Going back to Sam’s art, he can’t remember when he started painting, but his more ‘professional’ history is much easier to track. “I can’t really pinpoint that [my start],” he said. “I started like most kids, at a very young age with drawing and painting, but I really started around seven years ago as an apprentice off fellow painter Frans Fransiscus.” Sam loves the old masters like Rembrandt, Hals, Tizian, Goya, Gericault, Velazquez and he is a big fan of Delacroix, but also Van Gogh and Picasso, Otto Dix, Max Beckman, and then Lucien Freud, as well as more recent painters like Daniel Richter, Sam Dillemans and Neo Rauch. “Let’s say I like mostly figurative painting that deals with the human condition,” he said.

The ‘human condition’ is what I personally love in his paintings. Raw traces of oil paint that melt in shadows of vivid true stories. In this issue we feature The Anthropocene (aka Misantropocene), painted in 2017, 2/3 meter, oil on canvas. The story behind this piece is as quirky as this man´s inspiration. “This is a work really about the animalistic side of homo-sapiens. From when I was a kid I had questions on why there is so much violence in the world,” Sam said. “I think people are animals and animals have basic drives. For instance, if you feed ducks too much bread, they go out on massive gang rapes, more than usual. This is because a duck thinks of two things, finding food and reproducing (fucking). We live in a world where our power, knowledge and capabilities as a collective have grown extremely fast, while our minds are still basically the same as they were in our hunter-gatherer days thousands of years ago. We’re basically ducks with all the food and all the sex and all the power in the world. It’s very dangerous and it drives us crazy. But this craziness, if you realize where it comes from, can be beautiful. This painting is about nature but also artificiality. About the beast that mankind is and has created. It’s the aesthetics of our impending ignorant annihilation. I could even say it’s a celebration of it.” It is indeed, and as fucked up as it might look, this monster work of almost three meters is an amazing piece of art. He has many others, all portraying some sort of story in his life, love, health and passion... Sam works in acrylic and oils, layering the acrylic first and finishing with the oil. This painting has very deep traces; realistic yet not diffused enough to make it a Renaissance painting. Sam portrays himself as quite a classical guy, but one who seems to get inspired at night and in the most, ‘fucked up’ places. Well, ain’t we all? After all, nights in Amsterdam are not just for overthinking, right? Who knows, you might find him around, he might be going for a walk, and it might as well be the time you find him painting his inner beast. Check him out on samandrea.nl 19

Olivia Cellamare

f you’re looking for a band that make you feel like you’re listening to something that really cannot be ignored. Like, no matter how hard you try you can’t shake them and it becomes a whirlwind obsession, then Amyl and the Sniffers are for you. Heatwave

©Andreia Lemos (@andreiaartt)

AMYL AND

THE SNIFFERS

Fronted by the hypnotising Amy Taylor, this band are here to destroy. The songs are heavy, the sound is perfect and nothing in the world can stop them from causing a riot wherever they go. Their songs are born from days of frustration and the dullness of everyday life. Imagine the blistering heat of the Australian sun, you’re stuck in a job that you hate. How do you escape? You create songs for the whole world to relate to. You create songs that would make Joey Ramone proud. Amyl and the Sniffers have been making incredible music for over two years now and their sound has become something beyond being “just another punk band.” There is something here that demands to be heard. There is something here that makes you want to play the music so loud you’ll probably deafen your neighbour. There are worse things that you could do, right? ‘Caltex Cowgirl’ is one of my favourite songs by them. It shows a different side to the band. It has this brutality to it that makes you just fall in love with them over and over again. It’s such a gorgeous song, it shows us exactly what Amyl and the Sniffers are made of and what they are about. I reckon that Amyl and the Sniffers are a band that find you when you least expect it. They have this way of just popping up when you need them most. I’ve yet to see them live, but I’m pretty sure their live shows have something in them that They make music that feels like a house party has spiralled way leaves you wanting more, and to always be in that moment. out of control and no one really cares that several lamps and mirrors have been broken. There’s a roughness in the music I adore the song, ‘Stole My Push Bike.’ I’m pretty sure most that just makes them tower above anything else you’ve heard. people in my apartment block can relate to this one! It’s a playful song, but you can also pick up on how pissed off Amy is. They remind you of every punk band you’ve ever You get this image of her in your head of her finding loved. Bands like this don’t hit us very often do they? the bastard who took her bike and roughing them up They are a band that you just can’t get enough of. a bit. Back to being a bit reckless/lawless there, right! Sure they’ve got a couple of EPs out already, but when When I first heard the band, I honestly thought I was listening they release a full-length record, then it is over for anyone to something from the 70s. I thought I was listening to a band else who dares to even try to compete with them. that was criminally overlooked for decades and decades. I’m pretty sure that when this full-length record comes out, it’ll be this euphoric moment for us punks, Turns out, they are just one of the most exciting and and will obviously be the best record of the year. enthralling bands around. Australia is home to some amazing bands right now – from these guys to Skeggs, Australia With songs that sound like tantrums and excess partying, has a scene that is so powerful and a sheer joy to listen to. Amyl and the Sniffers are brilliantly fearless and just effortlessly cool. Yep, ‘cool’ is a redundant word, but have you heard I really hope some kids listen to Amyl and the Sniffers and are left ‘Balaclava Lover Boogie?’ It’s one of the coolest songs EVER. with this fire within them to start a band and to be unapologetically It’s one of those songs that you keep going back to and themselves, and to be beautifully loud. I hope it causes a when you do you play it louder than all the times before. music-based riot and just makes the world a better place for it. They are most certainly a band that you’ve just GOT to The band may have started out as a joke, but by no means is the play loud. Let the whole damn world know about this band! music they are giving us anything to laugh at. Amy’s snarl, Bryce In just a couple of years, Amyl and the Sniffers have and Dec competing to see who can be loudest and Gus just being done what many struggle to do in their whole career. an absolute beast on the bass show us exactly why we need them. Are there any other bands like this around? Probably not. They don’t make music to please everyone nor do they succumb to expectations. They just do it their way and this DIY There is something endearing about the band, but at the same approach is what makes them a wonderfully hyperactive delight. time you want to keep your distance slightly. They make you feel like you are invading their space. You feel as if you are listening to them in their garage or living room. You can imagine them leaping off the sofa whilst rehearsing songs like ‘70s Street Munchies.’ Back to the song, ‘Stole My Push Bike,’ you can imagine Amy singing this right at someone in the crowd, grabbing them by the scruff of their neck and snarling the song right at them. This kind of interaction is what’s missing. 23

Uranium Club

hat do you give the man who has everything? A moustache comb? A talking dog? A pair of jeans with crotch-rip resistant technology? How about a goddamn interview with The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band? Well, I got none of them and besides, I didn’t have everything to begin with. It seems that in the past couple years punk’s well trodden roads have been re-tarmacked with one of two different types of asphalt. You got your hyper serious, moody, delay pedal ridden, Ian Curtis noise, with songs usually addressing things like being on the dole or being anxious about something – usually your deadline for art school. On the flipside, you have your very badly recorded, Mickey Mouse pitched, molar grind inducing ‘Devo-core,’ which in essence is, three or four guys who just got turned onto Wire and Surburban Lawns with a wardrobe apparently lifted from the 1984 classic Revenge of the Nerds. Don’t get me wrong I love the sounds and aesthetics of both camps, but my sippy cup that holds all my ExCult spit and Coneheads barf overflowed a long time ago. Anyways, let’s switch gears and change out of the Lester Bangs lane. Luckily for you and I, this is where The Minneapolis Uranium Club band came into my sensory vision.

Bandcamp

Charlie Wyatt

All the while being seemingly impossible to track down, thanks to their decision to keep things very covert by way of ditching any serviceable means of social media; turning each new 45 or gig into some kind of game of punk rock whack-a-mole. It renders the band completely desirable and means only the actual fans out there go out seeking their records and fervently keep their ear to the ground for the next show. Their two greatest assets are their song craft and sense of humour, both of which jump ahead of everyone else by leaps and bounds, thanks to their complete focus and ability to utilise each those ideals at the right moment. Sometimes they jump out the speakers. Sometimes they march along like a robotic army of Mark Motherbaughs. Sometimes they even just straight up make you laugh.

weirdo Midwesterners kicking out some bloody good informed by classics like The Fall, The Randoms Wipers, standing up against contemporaries Shitty Limits, Eddy Current and Total Control.

The rocking choruses found in tunes like ‘Sun Belt’ and ‘Who Made the Man?’ get trashed up with scathing verses and bridges, sharp corners and sucker punches, which permeate each tune. Just how the hell did they manage that in the self-ritualised world of punk rock? How can they make up something no one can put their finger on in 2018?

Apparently formed in 2014, a quick Discogs search tells me what I already know – they have three LPs, one live, a 45 and a live tape, and all of it is outstanding. Their material has been released on Static Shock, Castle Face and Lumpy, among others.

Silly lyrics about video weed and communist coke are sang with more gusto than half of Pink Flag, which when combined with their completely on the dime stops and starts would make three D. Boons shake in their clogs.

Uranium Club have hopped, skipped and jumped across the pond via airwaves, and indeed by airplanes. US tours have been played to success and I’m sure the last EU, and current EU tour, is going to be played to a similar reception.

The over riding humour about all this flies over most listeners, much like a Zappa tune, and its caked in enough sweat and loogies to make you feel like you’re watching them in the Dischord House basement in the late 80s.

Four noise and like

Heatwave

I suppose like the band’s namesake, the band is indeed radioactive. They’re nuclear fission in song form, dripping off your turntable and burning toxic waste onto your needle. Until about four months ago you couldn’t even get a straight answer on who to talk to book the band, so lord knows how at the end of 2016 these four weirdos all of a sudden had a tour poster up with bold claims of them bringing their weirdo punk across a whole heap of the European mainland and the UK. Yours truly was playing a show and sodded off early, from Nottingham to Leeds, in the thick November Rain – what up Axl, to speed off 72 miles further north to catch what ended up being a 25-minute lightning bolt shock of just good solid punk rock. I believe my efforts to get there would have been treated with 40-minutes of premium ROCK, but the guitar player with the cats eyes glasses had a busted amp. I’m sure those of you reading up on these guys are already aware of the Uranium Club’s greatness, but if you’ve yet to turn onto them, then lucky you! You can start on ANY of their records and get that same booji-boy feeling over and over. It’s a rarity in this day and age to find a band that’s simultaneously rocking on record and on stage/basement/pit/laboratory, especially with such experimentation and subtlety crowbarred into a full on hardcore punk assault. So slap on your cat eye sunglasses and studded lab coats covered in Black Flag patches and let’s go get weird. What’s next in store for these hypno disk wearing weirdos? Who knows, with minimal information comes maximum anticipation.

Insecure Men Scott Custis

It’s easy to see the argument especially after he declined my offer to meet in person or to speak over the phone for an interview – rejected by a message sent to me at 2am one morning.

©Fat Possum

t would be fair to say that Saul Adamczewski can be a difficult character. Although recovered now, he has endured long struggles with addiction, creating the assumption that it can be a strain to work with him or that he is quick to cause conflict.

local club. It was an occasional source of ire for me and fuelled an already burning desire to be a musician myself. Saul has no yearning to think back to old times though.

circumstances behind his inability to get to America for Fat White Family’s performance on The David Letterman Show. These tales range from visa issues to drugs and a fear of flying, but “I’m happy for the way things are the truth Saul claims is much simpler. Things were clearly going to be a bit testing going in music,” he said. “No desire even without his stare judgementally fixed to go back to being in the Metros.” “I lost my passport,” Saul said. “True story.” upon me. But the gauntlet had been laid For some, he has been a great introduction He wants to avoid any real connections down and I had to prove myself to him. to the likes of counter culture performers to his past drug-fuelled lifestyle as much Saul has definitely built a cult personality such as Nick Cave, Mark E Smith and Go as possible, although he certainly still has for himself, even if it is unintentional. Kart Mozart. He has been at the forefront some strong opinions on the subject. So we exchanged a couple of emails of a burst of new bands from South “Half the people in any office doing and gradually he became more helpful London, which paved a way for the likes anything are doing coke on Friday,” even if a fair amount of this help was of Shame, HMLTD and Peeping Drexels to he said. “Everyone does drugs. I think delivered with a sarcastic, dry wit. crawl out from the floorboards. they’ll always work together, as you say.” It felt like I had to charm Saul in some way, As lead songwriter in Fat White Family, For Saul the problems he experienced to try and leave an impression of myself he has also followed the bohemian are not the fault of being a musician in his brain. Saul’s career and life is one lifestyle that has accompanied alone. Many other industries have people that many aspiring, or even contemporary many idolised artists before him. who struggle in the same way he did. musicians, could be envious of today. An example of this includes stories When asked whether there was an affinity With not one, but three successful bands of his refusing to leave the venue he with many of the great dictators that his work under his belt as he nears the age of 30, was playing at, down the road from often references he simply responded with he has earned the freedom to the Bataclan in Paris on the night of the ‘Clearly,’ suggesting perhaps that some of release essentially whatever he shootings, as he was waiting to meet his infamous behaviour has been integral wants to inflict upon the world. someone to pick up heroin. When asked to his work. The ends justify the means. about this he would only confirm that he He has achieved remarkable success was waiting to meet up with someone. Through his bands he has ingratiated in a profession that is becoming ever himself with the pop star nobility more perilous as a career option “Yes it’s true. I personally wanted to meet collaborating with second generations and has also been seminal within it. someone and they had not yet arrived of many a famous musicians. by the time we were asked to leave,” he Quite frankly it’s easy to harbour a sort Take the relationship he has said. “Seemed pretty safe there to me.” of jealously for the world he has created developed with Sean Lennon, who No oblique reference is made to drugs. for himself to live in. I had a girlfriend who has worked with and produced some admired him from the time when she saw Another story that circulated in various of Saul’s most recent endeavours. his first band, The Metros, play at her different forms was based on the 27

©Fat Possum

Although on this new release, Karaoke for One: Volume 1, Saul has gone for production from within the band using the saxophonist Joe Isherwood, of We Smoke Fags, and Marley Mackey, of Dirty Harry’s and the son of Pulp bassist Steve Mackey. “I would always be happy to work with Sean,” Saul said. “I did this album in a day with two of the other Insecure Men. Would have been a bit extravagant to go to America to make it.”

We are discussing what has been self described as the most ‘wholesome’ of Saul’s projects, Insecure Men. The band released an album of covers only a few months after the release of their opposite’ sort of person to sing karaoke. critically acclaimed self-titled debut. Much of Saul’s work and life seems to With such a short amount of time between be a carefully orchestrated combination these releases were the ideas for this album of contradiction. He is like Jeff Koons for floating around at the recording of the music. He makes kitschy references first one? Saul was quick to educate me. like on the last album to Cliff Richard, “No I did them about a month ago… and on this album Mysterious Girl by the album was a while back,” he Peter Andre, and manically re-adjusts said. “It’s the first time I felt like their context to disturbing effect. I’ve not

tried

imitate

someone.”

However it becomes clear that Saul Was that not odd, given he had released acts more instinctively than perhaps I a whole album of imitations, even if might think. In reference to a question they are tinged with Saul’s unique about his allusions to things like take on them. But his reasons for Disneyland in his work he impresses doing an album like that were simple. on the need for fun in music. “Because someone asked me “The reference to Disneyland in Insecure to and I like the songs,” he said. Men is a reference to the Fat White family,” Saul said. “And when Fat Whites The album itself is a mix of pop culture had a song ‘Bomb Disneyland’ we references set against a cascading were just being stupid. But why not!” waterfall of contrapuntal influences from The Carpenters to Perrey and Kingsley. Although the eclectic mix of musicians he has chosen to cover on this album It is yet another challenge that he seems won’t necessarily seem that obscure, with to be extending to his audience, a litmus perhaps the exemption of Abner Jay for test for the worthy few who get his music ‘I’m So Depressed,’ they are strange and maybe in turn the artist himself. choices for someone like Saul to select. At times it can sound like Muzak (technical term from music heard in lifts) or some of the offbeat covers of classics that may have featured in an episode of Phoenix Nights.

Insecure Men, I struggled to know whether I had even heard of a handful of the bands that Saul has referenced as influences in other interviews. Perhaps they just did come to him as something fun to cover at the time of recording. Remaining simple seems to be the key to Saul’s success and of the recording process for this album. “I played it on my Yamaha in a room with a mic... couple of songs or maybe only one had guitar,” he said. “It was very, very simple.” This doesn’t mean Saul puts any less work into his music than any other musician. In fact, with more and more projects with Saul’s involvement popping up it is strange that anyone frames him as a ‘slacker,’ and label Insecure Men as ‘a recovery project.’ Saul doesn’t seem too concerned with this picture being perpetuated, though. “I don’t know what they mean by slacker,” Saul said. “It’s a bit boring being pigeonholed, but I don’t lose any sleep over it.” Projects like this and their releases are more than just a recovery for Saul. He seems to be beyond that stage of surface level introspection. “I don’t know about my brain,” he said. “I don’t like to analyse myself like that really.” It is true that Insecure Men were conceived during his road to recovery, but if there are hints of reflection of his own life in his work they have come from a very instinctual place. They are merely embellishments to his fantastic imagination and creativity. Although he can reside in a dark place with his life in music, to him the music is clearly something he truly enjoys and genuinely has fun with while at work.

As I mentioned before, the album has the likes of The Carpenters and Peter Andre in the mix. I wonder whether there was any real With the subtle Volume 1, one could assume connection between these artists for Saul. correctly that we are probably going to It has a disquieting effect at times and this “I’m sure they share lots of things, but I didn’t see more covers like this from the band. was clearly intentional as Saul is glad it think about anything like that,” he said. “Yes I will never stop until I’m stopped,” makes you feel ‘unsettled.’ This effect is “I could do I guess, but I choose not to.” Saul said. “Karaoke for one for life!” also bolstered by a peculiarly happy looking portrait of Rasputin whom Saul agrees This would appear evasive, but with such seems as though he’d be ‘quite the an eclectic range of artists influencing Heatwave

©Gonzalo Facio

Neus Ruiz It’s been a while since I got hooked onto listening to a new punk rock/ power pop band from the UK – or more specifically, from around London. For a while it seemed like the scene had hit the pause button and taken a step back from new musicians and shenanigans. I could have filled books with the stories the scene was creating a few years back; the music always seemed to take centre stage in many of our hearts. We could possibly blame gentrification for the set backs the London scene has faced, and we should, but that has been going on for years now. We could also blame the fact that all our favourite music spots are closed down, or about to be closed by some rich pig friend, of a banker friend, of a friend that works in the House of Commons, who wants to build some luxury flats, where you can only fit a luxury bunk bed and a luxury mini palm tree made by the designers of some petty little shop in Columbia Road. Rant over, but still... Rents are high and you aren’t gonna

be able to pay to go out and get pissed every night. Nor would you if they were low, because the off-licence is just around the corner and Red Stripes are still a bargain, but hey that’s beside the point. But, this fact should be enough to give you some extra time to stay at home with the missus and write some punk rock hits. Rehearsal rooms these days can be DIY’d from anywhere and instruments can be borrowed. I will say the hardest thing to find is always the drummer, though, but once you get the drummer of your dreams, he or she will stay forever and be left to pick up the pieces of the gig… Literally. There are a few great bands that have taken the scene in recent years; my former flatmate turned me onto one

such band. He’s always had good taste in music, and he pointed me towards these fellas called Bad Nerves. At first I didn’t really check them out; we were probably at some after party fighting for YouTube songs when I came across a picture of the singer holding a copy of Heatwave, and it caught my interest. Luckily for me their music was indeed up my street. Since then I’ve been guilty of listening to a four-song Spotify Bad Nerves playlist on repeat for eight-hour non-stop. I very much hope that playlist grows soon with the release of their new record… Unfortunately the release date for their upcoming LP is still unknown. Bad Nerves are five dudes from some town outside

of London, who moved to London, as we all do, to work and make music. I had the pleasure of hanging out with the gang a couple of times over the last few months in the Netherlands. Yes, random. Their live shows are great! I recommend that anyone who likes bands that surpass their studio recordings with their live sets to give these guys a try. If you’re reading this at our launch party or after seeing them there, well lucky you! The band is formed by Bobby Bird on vocals, Will and Jimmy on guitar, Jon Poulten on bass and Sam on drums. This is their first proper band. “Most of us have known each other for years from various bands around our hometown,” Bobby said. “Me and Will 29

It’s always a stupid thing to ask about the origin of a band name, so you can guess about that one if you want, but it is what it is. It’s probably just a merger of two words from other bands or just randomly done, who knows. I will leave it to you to figure out. The boys also have looking going for them – based on what I’ve seen on Instagram, their female fanbase is growing in bunches. They have that Ramones look and sound, some say it’s indie, the band says power pop, but their influences are a bit all in the right place. “Major influences would have to be Ramones, The Clash, Jay Reatard, Radioactivity, The Nerves, Carbonas, etc., we listen to so much stuff, but those are probably some of the ones that made us start Bad Nerves,” Bobby said. “Lately I can’t stop listening to Death and Viletones.” The band doesn’t have a label yet, but I hear there are a few offers on the table; they’ve also put out a few singles with National Anthem. Getting on a label is something that many bands have started doing in recent years, and is something Bad Nerves would be interested in doing if they have the time. Having time and money that is… “Our deep empty pockets made us choose the instruments we have now,” Bobby said. “The drums I stole from a school and everyone’s guitars are Mexican Fender rips offs, I think. Anything goes, but Heatwave

on the night so it makes more sense to us to just show up and play the set as best we can once, then piss off. If we’ve got new songs to learn or a new set then obviously we spend more time figuring that out.” ©Bad Nerves

spent a year just sitting around writing shit and then eventually we got in touch with the other guys to see if they were up for jamming and it went from there I guess. I think it started around mid-2016; just me and Will writing in my garage with drums and guitar. Making music has always been a no brainer for both of us really, it’s the only thing that makes the normal day to day shit bearable.” drums must always be some kind of red. I have an old red Pearl Export, it’s unbeatable.” The band has only toured a little so far, but we all know we either make it big or go home and these boys are gonna hit that rocket soon, let me tell ya. 2019 might well be their year. They’ve played in England, France, Germany and Holland, so far. If home is London, we have an issue here, as it is pretty hard to get a proper tour around England without having to put in cash from your own pocket. “Europe so far has been way more exciting than the UK,” Bobby said. “People seem to care more about coming to shows over there. We played Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg a few months back, that was really awesome.” Again, their live shows are great, and they even drop some Ramones covers on stage. It feels like it’s been a while since a band has done Ramones covers; since Ramones T-shirts started hitting the shelves of H&M anyway. “We’ve played a few Ramones covers recently, which was fun, hoping to do some different covers soon, maybe The Nerves,” Bobby said. “We play everything we’ve released live, plus three or four newer ones, which will be on the album if we ever finish it.” The band has a bunch of really good hits, such as ‘Can’t Be Mine,’ Dreaming’ and ‘Wasted

Days.’ Their songs have received support from BBC Radio 1 and various other stations, which is pretty cool. “Me and Will have written everything so far. I don’t really have a set theme; I just roll with whatever comes out at the time,” Bobby said. “I like to write about life and death, which is kind of what ‘Dreaming’ is about, but at the same time stuff like ‘Can’t Be Mine’ and ‘Wasted Days’ are just about relationships. ‘Radio Punk’ was a bit of a joke really about how dumb it is to write music to please other people.” Bobby and Will have worked out a great natural flow for song writing. When they have jam sessions together, that’s when the musical magic really happens. “If me and Will write together we just jam on drums and guitar until we have a song, he said. “Then we track it and I fill in all the rough bass and vocals. If I write on my own I tend to just play drums whilst figuring out chord ideas in my head as I go.” Bobby has a studio at home, but practice is what makes perfection or is it? “We keep saying we need to do one rehearsal a week, but if there’s no upcoming show we tend to just concentrate on writing instead,” he said. “When we do rehearse we only play the set once or twice depending on how bad the first one was! You don’t get a second chance

It seems that their attitude towards music hasn’t changed much since they first began. Their original idea was to play fast paced music with a melody, and they’re trying to figure out how their songs will evolve from there. “I think we’ve definitely learned that less is more with song writing, we’ve often in the past ruined potentially good songs by over-writing and that ultimately kills the idea,” Bobby said. “It’ll be interesting to see where the sound goes after this album though, because we listen to quite a lot of different stuff compared to when we started. This album to me has always been about short, fast, catchy songs thrown together to make an album, whereas I’d like to venture away from that a little bit for the next one. If there is a next one.” We hope there is a next one, but first let’s start with dropping the first album. Being home is fucking boring dude, and as with any band these guys plan to tour, tour and tour as much as possible, only going back home to record a new album. So bookers out there, reach out here, because the Bad Nerves tour is going to explode anytime, and Heatwave will most likely be watching these guys closely while drinking at some Bad Nerves gig around your town. In case you’re wondering what bands you can add to your new playlist alongside Bad Nerves, the guys in the band recommend you to check out bands such as The Cavemen and Suicide Generation. We hope our dirty London Town bring us some more cool shit like Bad Nerves soon, instead of a foggy Brexit. Watch this space!

The B Girls in Japan : A dream come true Justin Crumpton

starting on September 1, one of the most unthinkable moments in punk history was realised. The B Girls began their quest to take on their ultimate and long awaited achievement – a tour of Japan. This was something Cynthia and Lucasta Ross had wanted to do since the 70s. The Runaways had a successful run, why couldn’t they? This story starts around 1977, when the punk scene in the US was just beginning. Now if you’re unfamiliar with the band, let me give you a brief history and some background to get you going. Originally from Toronto, they formed in 77 with an instant buzz once they started playing locally. They were given support slots with bands like Teenage Head and The Viletones, and even got to open for The Clash and The Undertones at a legendary show Massey Hall where there were riots. Once that happened, enough word had spread, so they decided to move to New York –this is where things really started to take off. They started playing shows with Blondie, Nikki and the Corvettes, The Cramps, and most importantly, The Dead Boys. Cynthia was even engaged to Stiv Bators for a while. So moving forward two years to 79, Greg Shaw of Bomp Records decided

to release a 7-inch for the band, getting US and European distribution respectively. The band hung on doing back up vocals on Blondie’s Autoamerican. Mick Jones and Debbie Harry co-produced demos hoping to further the band’s future. It was also around this time lineup changes occurred, but they kept playing shows until 81, when they broke up. Now, flash forward to 2017. A new lineup was formed and Cynthia and Lucasta decided that it was time and picked up right where they left of. Bomp released an LP consisting of their early single and the demos and live tracks, which were released on a CD in 1997, but have since been re-mastered. Now its 2018 and the girls have decided to take on what many bands strive to achieve, a Japanese tour. It’s not easy to get in. The way the scene works here, and I say this because even Eric Oblivian and I have had this conversation – you don’t choose them, they choose you. So to be accepted in Japan is a guaranteed success. So, the show I got to witness was their first show ever here, and it was an absolute honour and privilege. I personally consider this band to be punk royalty, so even for me, I thought I would never see it come to pass. On September 1, 2018, that moment

began for the B Girls in Osaka, a city that historically has been known for its creative punk scene. Boys Order, who are a fantastic local band, led the charge for the girls, playing their first show of what would be a week long tour to a packed sold out crowd. Mind you this place was small, but there were at least 120-140 people crammed in the room with this stage for the entirety of the show. I even saw someone wearing a shirt of The Wanderers, which was a one off Stiv Bators side project band who released one record between the break up of The Dead Boys and Stiv going solo. I had never even seen one before and Cynthia hadn’t seen one in nearly 30 years. For them, this was eye opening. Realising that Japan has one of the most prolific punk scenes on Earth, and also one of the most knowledgeable. Every time I go to Tokyo and hang at Poor Cow after a big show, I hear some record that blows me away. Even with a pending typhoon looming in the coming days, the tour carried on, and luckily the weather cleared up and no shows were cancelled. Call it destiny? I would say so, for sure. Sometimes things are just meant to be and if you just push enough and work hard enough anything is possible. Could it be destiny perhaps? I would like to think so. It was 31

At that moment, when the band opened up with ‘B Side,’ it was like the whole room lit up. Everyone in the crowd knew all the words. Music itself is its own language. So putting any barriers aside, rock n’ roll magic was most certainly in the air that night. I’ve played a lot of shows and been to a lot and this was definitely up there in my top five somewhere, for sure. Once they finished their set, of course they were asked to do an encore. Cynthia told the crowd, “but we don’t know anymore songs,” “that’s all the songs we have,” but the crowd kept chanting, “one more song.” So they decided to just do ‘Fun at the Beach’ again and they asked all the girls that had played in the previous bands to join them on stage for a sing along. Somewhere in the mix that got lost in translation, and then all the girls in the crowd rushed to the stage to all sing with the band. They started the song again and the place went crazy. Crowd surfing started, I managed to get some video of most of the set Heatwave

with my phone, which you will see on the Heatwave website, so you can see and hopefully feel the same energy that was in the room that night.

is essentially a bar with food. It was at least 30 of us, all the bands and close friends of the bands. It’s always an honor to be invited; it’s a show of respect.

I felt like tearing up a little because I was so happy for them. Something they had wanted to do their whole lives, over 40 years ago, had come to life. With a new lineup consisting of Elisa on guitar and Lyla on drums, the stars had perfectly aligned.

I had the best sashimi I’ve ever had that night and woke up with a massive hangover countless highballs later. In the coming days I reflected on what I had experienced, keeping up with the girls on social media, as I headed back to Hokkaido for work.

I would like to think that when I’m older I could still do this? Could I still get on stage and perform with the same energy that I had when I was younger?

In the last 10 years I’ve been lucky enough to work with and meet the legends of punk and connect with the people who made what it is today.

After watching their set, it made me realise something – It is never too late. You can always do whatever it is your heart truly desires to achieve.

I hope that years down the road, when I am their age I can do the same thing for the next generation and help guide rock n’ roll further into the future, so that it never dies or becomes forgotten. It’s most certainly a dream of mine and to those who are reading this. I hope it is for you as well. Lets make sure of that.

So after the show, we did what we always do here after shows in Japan – eat, drink, and celebrate a job well done. We all work so much here, as some of you may have read about, so with something so big and exciting like this you’re damn right a proper celebration is in order. We all went to a local izakaya, which

©Ika Lesniak

rs e k o h C n r o c p Po achan & Jack Savage Frieda Str

THE STORY OF SKINHEAD WITH DON LETTS (2016)

pen the newspaper, turn on the news, scroll through Twitter and you will see racism and violence. Anger is everywhere, everyone is angry. In the age of social media, it is easy to engage in politics, to become an activist through discovering likeminded people online, to voice your opinions and concerns and to stand for something. Before the age of the Internet it was a lot harder. The easiest way to align yourself with a movement, and to show your opinion, was through your fashion and taste in music. When I first moved to London in my early 20s, my eyes were opened. Coming from an oil city on the coast of Scotland and being faced with a vibrant punk scene that was, surprise to me, alive and kicking was life affirming. I hadn’t been able to immediately know that someone was ‘like me’ before. I could look at someone’s hair, their shoes or the patches on their denim and know that we had generally the same thoughts and opinions. Skinheads however, are not like that. Hearing the word ‘skinhead’ and someone identifying themselves as a skinhead can mean a million different things, and this BBC

Skinhead changed from tolerant unison to hatred and separation in the blink of an eye. No longer do people see the image of unity, but instead they think of racism, hatred, fighting, unrest, mobs and fear. That is what I see in the faces of people when I talk about skinhead music or fashion – distaste for what it represents. The documentary tracks skinhead to ska and two-tone, to oi! and hardcore, and ultimately to it coming back round to people who are still trying to keep that 1960s meaning alive.

I remember being in New York and bumping into a friend of a friend in Washington Square Park, who was head to toe skinhead, mouthing off about punching a racist at a gig the night before. I remember in London being confronted with the fact an old flatmate of mine was in fact an Anti-Semitic white supremacist – something I felt had happened overnight after too much booze documentary has done a great and getting sick of another job of explaining it all – with flatmates antics. I remember dreadlocked alternative DJ reading an article in a magazine Don Letts talking us through about Mexican skinhead gangs. the various incarnations of The movement has progressed, and travelled. skinhead, the music, the evolved fashion and the politics. But that stigma remains.

Frieda Strachan

mutual respect, but as with all things in Britain, there were obvious underlying issues.

Letts is a perfect voice for this hour-long film; the kind of publicly funded programming that makes you glad you pay your TV licence. Dabbling in the punk and the reggae scenes, the British-born, Jamaican-decedent, Letts, introduces us to skinhead in its initial form in the 1960s – a mixture of those two cultures. Working-class white kids and their Jamaican peers coming together in London created the skinhead. These were youths, black and white, with a love of reggae music and smart clothes – big bovver boots, shirts and braces. It’s portrayed as a time of tolerance, happiness and

having faced with the rise of National Front racists and allies. It’s a fitting time for a documentary like this to come out. I’m sure like a lot of you reading have noticed resurgence in the style. I don’t doubt at all that fashion is following, whether consciously or not, the rise of far right beliefs and fascist rhetoric into our everyday discourse. Trump is president. Nazi’s are getting airtime everywhere. The UK is leaving the EU. This documentary was heart breaking to watch for a number of reasons. You look back at the originals feeling let down by the shift in meaning of skinhead and punk, the black kids feeling ostracised from the movement they were instrumental in creating. You watch it all warp and change from today’s world, where these same disgusting and backward movements are rearing their ugly heads. It hurts.

The beauty in Don Letts as presenter is that he is still an important part in this movement – ‘old’ but contemporary. At the end of the documentary we see him playing records You can see in the documentary to a packed club, Dr Martens the frustrations of the originals, and Fred Perry’s everywhere. the non-racists who want to hold onto their origins and It’s better than following the This identity, but being denied that Is England crowd, because we due to white, working-class get an explanation of it all here. racists stealing what it all meant It’s important to understand a to them. It’s genuinely sad. given explanation as opposed to just seeing skinheads suddenly I wear skinny high-waist jeans becoming racist onscreen and and monkey boots with braces seeing the final representation sometimes. I know what it of them as nationalists. represents to others when they see that. I often lose the braces The Chelsea cut lives. It’s maybe before leaving the house. not being delivered in the same way, but these days it is definitely I listen to The Specials and heading more towards a more enjoy it, and know what it all tolerant and welcoming place meant at the time, but it’s hard than previous incarnations, to overcome the obstacles as this documentary testifies. Don Letts describes people 33

Bad Reputation (2018)

Danny Says (2015)

“Girls can’t play guitar.” Yep, right from the first few lines you can tell which angle Bad Reputation will take towards its subject. Of course feminism is kind of an inescapable topic when dealing with Joan Jett. She’s a badass who can go toe-to-toe with any male guitar player – a true rock n’ roll icon who blazed a trail for future generations of women in rock n’ roll. The problem with Kevin Kerslake’s recent documentary is the way in which it tackles this aspect of Joan’s reputation. While happy to barrage us with tired platitudes we’ve heard before (“Hey man! Girl’s can rock!”), it does little to show it. Sure, there’s some killer footage of Joan Jett and The Runaways busting ass on stage, but more often than not this includes the voice over of some rock dinosaur telling us why its important. Shove it man! Let the gals speak for themselves! Lemme hear the music! Indeed, Joan herself mentions that her response to early interviewers asking about sex and sexuality was to simply talk about the music. Why then does this documentary offer so little in the way of actual dissection of its musical subject matter? I’ve seen Stooges documentaries dedicate 10-minutes to the fucking sleigh bells in I Wanna Be Your Dog. So why isn’t anyone here talking about Sandy West’s drumming, Cherie Curie’s lyrics or Joan Jett’s guitar playing? In dealing continually with the media response to Joan Jett and The Runaways the film falls into the same trap as the 70s music mags it maligns – it ignores the actual musical talent they possessed. Instead the film is content to rely on the age-old method of parading a ‘who’s-who’ of rock n’ roll talking heads in front of its audience. As if this is what truly proves how important Joan Jett is. In this way the film seems to bypass its subject. Joan herself is one of the highlights of the film. She’s eloquent, witty and down to earth. Can we get more of her perspective on her own career and maybe none

‘Translator.’ ‘Catalyst.’ ‘Fuelline.’ These are just some of the terms used to describe Danny Fields, the quietly infamous pop writer, A&R guru, and manager who, as Alice Cooper put it, “seemed to be at the very pulse of the underground” during the 60s and 70s. But in many ways, this is not a film about Danny, it is a film about the rock n’ roll counterculture that he inhabited, cherished and fostered. Danny Says is a verbal autobiography told largely from the point of view of its subject. Yet while the film’s focus is on Danny’s life and experiences, it essentially uses his perspective as a lens through which to glean a fresh insight into some of the 20th century’s most enigmatic and influential musical figures.

Jack Savage

Heatwave

Jack Savage

of Billy Joe Armstrong’s – Actual quote: “I Love Rock n’ Roll? Hell Yeah! That’s Me!” Also, if I see Iggy or Dave Grohl in another music documentary I swear I’m gouging my own eyeballs out. Another highlight is the relationship between Joan and her longtime producer Kenny Laputa. Laputa is the guy that picked a drug/drink addled Joan, dusted her off and jettisoned her off on her second wave of stardom along with the Blackhearts. On a side note, the film breezes over the ‘dark patch’ of Jett’s life pretty quickly. Hell, I ain’t asking for the E! True Hollywood story, but gimme some dirt! This is rock n’ roll! Anyway, the candid scenes of these two backstage runs like some kind of Larry David-esque married couple routine, providing the most genuinely funny and human moments of the film. Ultimately Bad Reputation is a perfectly entertaining and well-made account of Joan Jett’s life. It’s slick, Instagram friendly vintage shots of 1970s LA and abundant archive of live material really encapsulates the atmosphere of Joan’s life and career. It’s a perfect introduction for the uninitiated. Yet for those well versed in her story, it may come across a little superficial, and its handling of Jett’s place as a feminist icon lacks the nuance she deserves.

It serves its audience a refreshingly entertaining and humanising slice of American pop culture through the anecdotes of someone who was at the centre of some of the most important moments in rock n’ roll history. And that’s no overstatement. Danny dishes the dirt on a seemingly never-ending litany of rock n’ roll icons – Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgewick, Jim Morrison, Iggy, the Ramones, Nico, Jonathan Richman. The list goes on. While the typical ‘talking head’ technique is employed here, it is done so sparingly and appropriately – Iggy only pipes up during the Stooges segment and gag-inducing Grohl is thankfully AWOL. Instead the documentary lets Danny tell his own story. Indeed, the most pleasing aspect of the ﬁlm is the way in which he weaves various anecdotes together in his casually witty and hilariously laconic fashion. Such irreverence is what makes the ﬁlm’s take on such welltrodden subject matter so fresh and entertaining. From vodka and grapefruit juice parties with Andy Warhol at The Factory to acid freakouts with Leonard Cohen, Danny Fields really provides a uniquely down to earth take on his larger than life friends.

This is aided by the film’s plethora of source material. Private photographs, and taped phone calls bring out the more human and intimate sides of notorious hard-cases like Nico and Lou Reed. And though I usually get turned off by cartoon illustrations in music documentaries; not able men tion: Ji m Jarmsuch’s awkwardly low budget caricatures in Gimme Danger, in this instance they quite effectively bring to life Danny’s amusing yarns. But that’s not to say that it’s all about Danny’s famous friends. Hell, he was no bystander. Over the course of the film one also gains an appreciation for his talent as a talent scout, PR wizard and provocateur. I mean this is the guy who printed John Lennon’s “The Beatles are bigger than Jesus” quote. He signed the MC5 and The Stooges to Elektra. He borrowed $3000 off his own mother to buy The Ramones a drum-kit. His contribution to bringing fringe freaks into the public eye is undeniable and the film constantly acknowledges this. Although this is perhaps a film that will appeal more to diehard rock n’ roll fans sick of the abundant run-of-the-mill documentaries on this era, it is still genuinely entertaining in its own right and well made enough to appeal to anyone remotely interested in music. At times poignant, often laugh out loud funny, Danny Says is recommended for anyone who wants a fresh and entertaining insight into one of the most important eras in American rock n’ roll history, or anyone who wants a laugh really.

Mallorca Scene

ey Heatwave readers, what’s up? I have been asked to write a little about the punk rock scene in Mallorca and here I am… sitting in front of my old computer, typing with my serious face on.

Bernat Mundial

We meet for coffee, beers on the terrace of a bar, hiking, cooking at home... and gigs.

The audience that attends is not exclusively punk, but there is a mix of friends of all kinds, people who want to have fun, who Well, let’s start with the topic that enjoy the live shows and the environment, a lot of people still seem to be sisters, uncles, cousins and students. surprised about – that there is a punk Another interesting thing is that we know scene in Mallorca. Yes, there is one! each other so well that we do not feel It seems that the beaches with their crystal blue waters, afternoon gin tonics, sun and tanned skin don’t necessarily go along with the sound, aesthetics and general punk attitude. Well, leaving aside personal considerations, we can say that both worlds coexist here on the island.

like we are there to prove anything. It is not necessary. This allows us to feel relieved and let our guards down, leaving the posing for when we travel outside.

Although the punk scene in Mallorca began in the 80s, with bands as good as Brain Expressed and Eskoria, and in the 90s and 2000s there were also important groups like Bad Taste Cannibales, Net Weight, Oi! The Arrase, Mallorkaos, Toc de Queda or Phogo, I want to talk about the current Mallorcan scene.

Metadona Records is the label that has been producing most of the vinyl made here in recent years, but it also puts out good things from outside of Mallorca, such as the Qloaca Letal LP or the Soberania Personal LP, which I really recommend. I also carry a small stamp of ribbons called Sangre Azul.

There are also people we do not know or who we don’t know as well, but so you get an idea of the atmosphere a bit.

Here the punks all know each other, it would be strange if there were some punks that we didn’t know or had gone unnoticed. Likewise, there is no such phenomenon like in the big cities where punks only meet punks. Our meetings tend to be heterogeneous, in a daily, sporadic way.

Mallorca is a small island, you can travel to its two most remote ends in less than an hour and a half by car. Its main city, Palma, has about 500,000 inhabitants right now.

There’s a punk and anarchist radio program, called 1984, that broadcasts every Saturday from a town called Algaida. There is a fanzine dedicated to punk on the island called Niu de Rates. It is written in Mallorcan and with a historical, humorous and ironic focus on everything that surrounds punk on the island. The scene here has very good relationships with scenes in other cities around the world, such as Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, London, New York, California, Bogotá etc. There have been many years of transit between them and relationships built with fluid communication. Here there are several people who organise concerts – we have a collective called Nou Renou, who we also assemble with sometimes. Recently they have worked with groups like Leonor SS, Suicidas, Ruidosa Inmundicia, Sudor, La Llagrima, Permission, Generacion Suicida, Mueran Humanos, Crimen de Estado, La Urss, Una Bestia Incontrolable, Arrest, Barcelona, Los Crudos, Ultra, Patsy, Computers in Love, The Lowest Form, Coagul, Sistema de Entretenimiento, Sin Bragas, Muro, Final, SDH, Brigada, PMS 84, Sheer Mag, Dawn of Humans, Fracaso, Demonios Salvajes, Enamorados, Piss, Absurdo, etc. For the last several years punk bands in Mallorca have been rehearsing in these former stables on the outskirts of the city next to the Hippodrome, where they hold horse races and bets on the weekends.

There are a few good bands in the scene worth mentioning – Trance is Haus Frauen is another all girl group playing industrial punk music. a punk group that plays in a style similar to The Ramones, but while also Their songs are in German and they’ve just entered the recording remembering old Argentine punk. They’ve released several albums. studio. Sangre en Polvo is a dub group formed by punks. They’re a Desenterradas is an all-female group with only one tape relatively new band and they’ve just come out with a demo on tape. out. They play gothic punk similar to Paralisis Permanente. Trau is a fast and aggressive hardcore group that sings in Mallorcan; they have a tape and two 7-inches out.

Punal is a group of hardcore at halftime. They finished a tour in Colombia and have released a tape. There’s also Preventive Attack, who have released a 7-inch EP, so in short, there is quite a lot of movement going on. Currently I play mostly in two groups, one is Orden Mundial, a hardcore band that started in 2011-12, and we’ve played a lot and released a few albums. My other band is Pena Máxima, a group that had a very intense and short life, but has now risen. We just released a tape with the recordings we made during that short time, back at the end of 2013 in Barcelona. Well, I hope we didn’t bore you too much. I really didn’t know how to write this. If one day you go to Mallorca, you will find us there, ask to the youth in bars. They will know how to find you a good gig.

Heatwave

SPAZZ RECORDS’ TOP TEN RECORDS

8. Country Teasers - Satan Is Real Again or Feeling Good About Bad Thoughts 12-inch, Crypt, 1996 An underappreciated record. The album is like a construction of bad dreams, cold, crude and dissonant. A hypnoexperiment gone bad. (Post-) punk gone country in a deviant and brilliant way.

10. Supercharger - Sooprize Pack For Mr. Mineo 7-inch, Super*Teem!, 1991 Back when I was into Ramonescore punk rock, somehow this name popped up and I got attracted to it. I got hooked on it.  It’s a simplistic and unpolished garage punk rock n’ roll masterpiece. This is the drug that got me into all the weirdo garage-music and dumb punk shit I like today.

7. Fun Things - Fun Things 7-inch, EMI Custom Records, 1980  Put the best of Radio Birdman and The Saints in one band and you will get something that sounds pretty much like Fun Things.  When you think of it, it’s a shame that this EP is all that was ever recorded by these Ozzies. 6. It’s All Meat - Feel It 7-inch, Columbia, 1969 When I found out about this gem, I needed to obsessively play this over 20 times on repeat. A song that was clearly ahead of its time. One of those songs that precedes the punk era. 60s rock n’ roll organpunk. I’m a sucker for that stuff.

4. Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes 12-inch, Polydor, 1968  They took national and traditional pop music, deconstructed it, reconstructed it, added psych, poetry, and threw it into the crowd in a mental electrified avant-garde embodiment, and got pressured by the military government because of it.

5. Boco - Running The Mardi Gras 7-inch, Laughing Eye Records, 1972  Listening to Boco is like pouring hot chocolate over vanilla ice cream. Sweet funk/soul, so delicate, so subtle, yet such a powerful tune. It makes tough guys weep like babies.  3. Slim Harpo - I’m a King Bee 7-inch, Excello, 1957  As Mick Jagger said, “What’s the point in listening to us do ‘I’m A King Bee’ when you can listen to Slim Harpo doing it?” He’s never been more right. Slim’s sweet nasal voice is unmatched and the slides on that bass make me go bonkers!

2. Mamie Perry with Gus Jenkins Orchestra – Lament 7-inch, Pioneer International Records, 1959  Top shelf heartbreaking blues with a rhythm that would nearly match ska music, but I doubt ska was popular in LA then. It’s a most beautiful touch when that gypsyesque violin starts to blend in.  Heatwave

9. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning 7-inch, Reprise, 1967   L ee Hazlewood, you gotta love that guy, and boy I do. The deep and dark voice of Lee, counteracted by the angelic bright singing of Nancy is downright perfect in this piece. It’s manic, it screams for medicine.

1. The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog 7-inch, Elektra, 1969 When adrenaline hits your brain, all thought blurs into a chaotic mess. Your options are to run or fight. That’s what this intro is. All the noise flows into a riff that is so mean and dangerous, yet so beautiful. That’s the adrenaline rush kicking in. I gotta fight!